


Ticking

by kawaiitiff



Category: POE Edgar Allan - Works, The Tell-Tale Heart - Edgar Allan Poe, edgar allan
Genre: Dark, Gen, Obsession, Obsessive Behavior, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:27:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29423058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawaiitiff/pseuds/kawaiitiff
Summary: This is a  short story I wrote a few years ago for my Creative Writing course. It is inspired by the Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe!I hope you enjoy!





	Ticking

In the dark apartment, Ann sat on a sleek black couch hunched over while she stared at the floor, and her hands grasped the edge of the couch. Tears were streaming down her face, but she made no sound. The room was completely quiet besides the quiet ticking of the clock. However, for Ann, the sound of the clock was almost deafening, but Eric will not allow her to take the batteries out. He said that the only way for her to get through this was to not run away from her problems; she had to be strong enough to fight through everything. Ann stood up and walked over to the clock. The clock was circular with a black frame and it hung from a nail in the wall. Ann constantly wished for a large earthquake to come and knock the clock down breaking it forever, but she knew that day would never come. She touched the glass face of the clock.

"I could pretend it was an accident," she said to herself. "That's what they said it was, an accident, no one meant for it to happen. That's just how life is." She grabbed the clock and was ready to rip it off the wall when she heard footsteps.

"Honey? What are you doing?" Eric asked as he walked down the hall. Ann quickly removed her hand from the clock and rushed to sit on the couch. "Were you talking?" Ann did not answer his questions. Instead, she stared at the clock intensely as if it was doing something other than its normal function. Eric sighed and put his hand around Ann's arm to gently pull her up. She broke her concentration.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he tried to pull her up.

"Come on, let's go to bed Ann," he responded. Ann yanked her arm away.

"I'll go to bed when I'm ready," she snapped.

"Ann, you can't keep doing this," Eric said, raising his voice slightly.

"What am I doing? I'm not doing anything," Ann replied. Eric took a deep breath before responding.

"Ann...We have to keep living our lives. I know it has been rough for the both of us, but we can't stop living our lives just because..." Eric stopped there, unsure of how to finish his sentence.

"Because he stopped living his?" Ann asked. "Is that what you were going to say about Frankie? Is that what you were going to say about our son!" Ann yelled. Eric automatically sat down next to Ann and held her.

"No, I would never say that," Eric started. "It's just...I'm really stressed out at work and taking care of the house. I just need some help...I need you back Ann. It has been five months and-" Ann cut him off.

"I understand. I do. I'm sorry," Ann said. Eric smiled as relief rushed through his body.

"Then are you ready to come to bed?" Ann turned her head to look at the wall.

"Can we please turn off the clock?" she asked. Eric stood up.

"The clock is fine. You should stop worrying about it"

"But it really bothers me Eric why can't we-"

"No! We're not going to move the clock and we are not going to have this conversation again." Eric snapped. Ann laid down on the couch and closed her eyes.

"I'm sleeping here. Go to bed."

"You're not going to sleep in here Ann. Come to bed.". Ann did not respond and instead turned over on the couch. Eric stood there for a minute contemplating how he would get Ann to come to bed, but then decided to accept his defeat and walked back to the bedroom.

The next morning Ann was laying on the couch staring at the ceiling as Eric rummaged in the refrigerator.

"I'm going to go to the store soon," He mumbled.

"I'll go," Ann said not moving her eyes from the ceiling. Eric paused and turned around.

"Really? Are you sure?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, I mean you said you needed help. So, I will help you."

"Okay! I'll leave a list of things to buy and money to cover it! You'll drive your car, right? And what are you looking at on the ceiling?"

"Yes, I will drive and I'm not looking at anything. Just resting." There was no way Ann was going to tell her husband that she could see the dreadful ticking clock everywhere she looked. He would never allow her to go out if she said that.

"Maybe if I get out," she thought "Maybe the ticking will go away. And the clock." As she thought about this Eric rushed to make a shopping list.

"Okay, I'll leave this and the money on the counter, and I'll see you tonight! Thanks, honey." He said and ran out the door. Ann slowly got up from the couch and walked to the bathroom barely lifting her feet. She stared at herself in the mirror. The sound and sight of the clock was getting to her. She wanted to get out as soon as possible, but the clock was making her head throb which made her move slowly. Ann tried to splash her face with water, but the throbbing wouldn't stop. Finally, unable to control herself, she marched into the living room, ripped the clock down, and smashed the clock on the floor. The sounds stopped and she went to get ready to go to the store.

When Ann returned home, she was happy. Not only did she go to the store, but she visited friends that she had not seen since the funeral. As she walked in the door she was so excited to tell Eric about her day, but he was not as excited to see her. Eric stood next to the pieces of the clock with his arms crossed.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Oh! I forgot to clean that up! I'm sorry." Ann replied.

"Did you break it?" He asked.Ann closed the door behind her.

"Yes, but I feel so much bet-" Eric cut her off.

"You broke the damn clock. The clock that was doing absolutely nothing to you, and now you say you feel better because you broke it?" Eric asked. Ann was silent and just stared at him.

"Look Ann, you don't actually feel better after breaking inanimate objects. It's just a clock. Which is why I bought a new one." He said. Eric turned around a pulled out an identical black clock from a bag.

"We don't need a clock." Ann quickly said. Eric shook his head.

"It's fine Ann," he replied and turned on the clock. All at once, Ann could hear the boisterous ticking in her head.

"Turn it off." Ann mumbled putting her hands on her head. Eric did not respond and hung the clock on the wall.

"Eric, I said turn it off!" She yelled.

"Ann it's a clock." He said.

"Turn it off!" She yelled again as she ran over to try to pull the clock off the wall. Eric held her back.

"No! Ann! You're going to have to learn how to deal with it!" Eric yelled back. Ann screamed and ran outside the house. It was dark now, but Ann didn't care. The ticking noise wouldn't stop as she ran down the street and into a dark alley. The ground was wet, but Ann still fell onto the ground clutching her throbbing head. Water dripped from the pipes above onto her back, but she didn't notice. Instead, she mumbled almost incoherently.

"I waited next to the clock all night. It was an accident. An accident. We all fell in the water...he didn't make it. An accident," she mumbled. It was too much for her. The doctors never helped, Eric wanted the clock, and Ann hated that clock more than anything. No matter how much time passed, her son was never coming back. Frankie meant the world to her, and what she wanted more than anything was to see him again. That's why she put rocks in her pockets and went to the local community pool. The next day the papers would read "Woman, 34, drowns in local pool, five months after son's ,5 years old, death.


End file.
